The Collecting Goes On
by LittleMewLugia
Summary: Lawrence IIIJirarudan has begun his collection again, but will avoid the birds of Shamouti Island. However, he has his sights on another living thing to put in his collection, something else utterly unique.


The Collecting Goes On

This is a story I've had the idea for for some time. At the end of the second Pokémon movie, Lawrence III/Jirarudan, upon finding his ancient Mew card, stated "How it all started, and how I'll begin again. This story supposes that he does continue to collect, and is still fairly selfish about it.

Setting: June 2001, somewhere around the Kanto/Johto border.

High up in the sky, Lawrence III sat in the control centre of his new flying machine. Being as wealthy as he was, and with the financial acumen to deal successfully in stocks and shares and thus make more money, paying for a replacement had caused Lawrence no hardship.

His original had been completely destroyed beyond repair on Lightning Island, after his foiled attempt to capture the Three Titans of Fire Ice and Lightning, and the Water's Guardian, Lugia.

He now knew, of course, that he could not possess them without putting the balance of the world out of kilter, which would result in the world's destruction by weather effects. This, however, did not mean he had to stop collecting other things of rarity. So here he was, rebuilding and expanding his collection with safer items, some living, and some not.

Lawrence had compiled a meticulous list on his computer of things he planned to add to his collection. As he gained any of the items, it was ticked off on the list, catalogued, photographed, put into a database, and cross-referenced with extra information as needed and was applicable, such as maker, date, and rarity. A few of his collectibles were classed as "unique" and it was these he valued the most. There was a certain attraction to owning something that no one else had.

At this particular time, it was a living, and unique thing he sought to bring into his collection. He was convinced that its capture would not cause any disharmony in the natural world. However, he knew that he had to capture it without anyone else knowing, for anyone who saw would most certainly object. His sought-after specimen would need to be found when nobody was around to see. As it had no idea he wanted it, it shouldn't be too difficult to track it from a distance, wait until there was nobody around, and then….

He had a new supply of force-fields, and had had a special set made for this unique living thing he was hunting for. The rest were calibrated for the capture of rare Pokémon, but he was currently not seeking a Pokémon.

His scanners were set to the widest range of scan, and his computer reported the presence of that he sought. Getting out his big telescope, he ordered his machine to advance, avoiding large settlements.

Fifteen minutes later, he had the object of his search within view. In an amazing stroke of lick, there was nobody nearby. There was a small habitation, but if he were fast he could move in quickly, snatch his prize, and be away before anyone saw him. Even if his machine was seen in the area, well, he could just say he happened to be travelling through. It was a free air space, wasn't it?

He ordered his machine to accelerate, for the force-fields to be readied, and observed his quarry as they approached. He was in luck: preoccupied with something else, his prey was oblivious to his approach. When he was within range, he deployed the force-fields with a motion of his hand.

The force-fields effected their capture without trouble. His prize was so unaware of his presence that by the time it realised what was happening, the frames had locked together and the sleep-inducing mechanism had already begun to subdue his new acquisition. Lawrence instructed his machine to head out of the area, towards the mountains where he hoped he might find one of the Legendary Dogs. There had been no dire warnings about not capturing _them_.

Then he instructed his chair to descend. He had his new exhibit to check off and catalogue in his collection.

Picking up an expensive digital camera, he walked to an appropriate distance from the frames to take a photo of their slumbering occupant. He connected it to his computer, which printed out a high-quality picture of the image, and copied it to the computer. Lawrence opened his database and list, put a copy of the image in, and ticked off the requisite box.

In the space below, he typed.

Acquired: June 2001-Category-living. Rarity value-Unique. Catalogue number:374: Name of acquisition: The True Chosen One of Shamouti Island, also known as Ash Ketchum.


End file.
